Duke forward Kyle Filipowski declared for the 2024 NBA Draft, he announced Friday via social media.
The 7-foot Filipowski led the Blue Devils in scoring (16.4 points per game) and rebounding (8.3 boards) for the second consecutive season, and is a potential lottery pick in this summer’s NBA Draft. In The Athletic’s pre-NCAA Tournament mock draft, Filipowski was slotted at No. 15 overall to the Miami Heat.
Always love 💙 pic.twitter.com/LF1W1iFY8K
— Kyle “Flip” Filipowski (@kylefilipowski) April 12, 2024
Filipowski arrived in Durham in the summer of 2022 as one of the seminal recruits in Jon Scheyer’s first class. In fact, Filipowski — a five-star talent ranked No. 4 overall in that cycle — was the first high school signee for Scheyer, who succeeded Mike Krzyzewski as head coach in April 2022.
Filipowski was one of three top-five commits in Scheyer’s inaugural class — joining current NBA rookies Dereck Lively II and Dariq Whitehead — which ranked first in the nation, and seemingly validated Duke’s year-long succession plan with Scheyer as the coach-in-waiting after Krzyzewski.
Plus, since Scheyer only returned one rotation player from Krzyzewski’s final class, point guard Jeremy Roach, the door was immediately opened for Filipowski’s emergence. The inside-out threat quickly emerged as one of the best players in both the ACC and the nation, winning the conference’s rookie of the year award last season in conjunction with honorable mention All-America honors. He was also named ACC Tournament MVP last season, when he helped Duke defeat Virginia for Scheyer’s first conference title.
Filipowski likely could have gone pro last offseason, if not for double hip surgery that sidelined him for most of last summer — and which would have prevented him from participating in pre-draft workouts for teams. That, combined with the Blue Devils’ loss to Tennessee in the round of 32, spurred Filipowski’s return.
This season, with Lively having left for the NBA, Filipowski’s role changed, and the sophomore big man spent significantly more time at center than he did as a freshman. That unlocked Duke’s five-out, perimeter-oriented offense — which finished No. 8 nationally in adjusted efficiency, per KenPom — but also came with some struggles on the defensive end, especially against stronger, more conventional centers.
But Filipowski still helped himself tremendously this season, at least in the eyes of NBA evaluators The Athletic spoke to. While opinions are still split on Filipowski’s best position at the next level — some believe he can be a center, while others see him as more of a supersized stretch-forward — his ability to defend in space, coupled with his inside-out offensive versatility, makes him a desirable prospect in a lackluster draft class.
He improved his 3-point percentage this season — up to 34.8 percent, compared to 28.2 percent last season — and showcased more playmaking ability. After only one game during his freshman season with four or more assists, Filipowski had 13 such performances this season, including in each of the Blue Devils’ first two NCAA Tournament wins this postseason.
Filipowski also enters the NBA Draft after several controversies — not of his making — over the last two seasons. As a freshman, he was fouled with time expiring against Virginia, but was not granted the potential game-winning free-throws; Duke went on to lose in overtime — its last loss before a 10-game winning streak that included the ACC tournament title — but the ACC announced that night that Filipowski should have been awarded two free-throws.
He was also hit in the throat late in Duke’s road loss to Virginia Tech, and became sick immediately thereafter on the sidelines, but no foul was called.
This season, after the Blue Devils’ loss at Wake Forest on Feb. 24, Filipowski was seemingly injured by a fan during a court-storming celebration. Filipowski appeared to be pushed, before being helped off the floor by Duke staffers and teammates.
He told reporters postgame he had sprained his knee, inciting a national debate — following a similar incident with women’s college star Caitlin Clark — about the merits (or lack thereof) of court-storming. Filipowski ultimately did not miss time, starting all of Duke’s 36 games this season.
Filipowski became the second Blue Devil to declare for the NBA Draft on Friday after freshman Jared McCain announced his intentions earlier in the day.
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(Photo: Lance King / Getty Images)